Coming up on Financial Review Sunday, June 2

Casino Wars

We’ve seen quite a lot of James Packer recently, as the Crown Casino chairman campaigns to get his hands on a lucrative new licence to operate in Sydney. Now we hear from his opponent. In his first TV interview, John Redmond, the chief executive of Echo, reveals just how much he plans to spend up-grading The Star complex in Sydney. He’s thinking big. And he comes out swinging, telling Packer: “We don’t have a plan to lose, we only have a plan to win.”

Down, down

On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has a tough call to make. Will it cut rates again, just a month after its last cut? Whatever happens next week, the next few months will certainly see some major shifts in our economy. With the mining boom well and truly over, we hear some significant calls from one of our most eminent economists. Ross Garnaut reckons the RBA’s cash rate needs to be below 1 per cent. Yes, that low. He also says our wages need to come down. A lot. And he believes our dollar must fall against the greenback to the mid-US70¢ range, if our economy is to stand any chance of weathering the looming storm.

For the record

Music has never been more popular. But making money out of music has never been more challenging. This week, the streaming service Spotify celebrated its first birthday in Australia. It’s not making any money, not yet. But it is yet another challenge to the traditional music business model. We talk to the company about their radical business model. And we meet Eskimo Joe, a Perth band who left their record company, and are now asking their fans to help fund their career.

Our panel

Joining host Deb Knight in the studio this week are HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham and The Australian Financial Review’s Nabila Ahmed. We’ll have company news in Street Talk. And in Rear Window, Joe Aston has some late, breaking news about a Hollywood heart-throb and a brief career in the Australian financial sector.